So That's What Ramadan is
by crimson-obsidian-rose
Summary: A holiday fic based on the Muslim celebration of Ramadan. When Amy Rose meets a Muslim girl and decides that she wants to try her hand at fasting, she finds that it's ALOT harder than it seems. Please Read and Review, but if you don't like don't flame!


Ladies and Gentlemen of I am here with a brand-new, one of a kind story. Every year, at every holiday this section is flooded with stories about that holiday. But Ramadan is also a holiday, celebrated by Muslims, and because they are often frowned by our society not many people know what it is, or that it even exists. So, in honor of the first day of Ramadan, I have written this fic, and I really hope that you guys read and enjoy this story, and that you learn something from it!!

Disclaimer: I don't own and Sonic characters or related themes, but I do own Iman, a character created especially and only for this fic.

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'_You're not gonna get away from me this time Sonic…'_ Amy Rose was as determined as ever as she ran down the busy streets of downtown Station Square. In fact, she was so determined that she didn't realize she was about to run into a very distracted pedestrian until she made contact. Both Amy and the person she ran into were knocked over, and it was Amy who recovered first.

"Oops, I'm so sorry! I hope you're alright, I didn't mean to knock you over." She apologized quickly, and stood up just as fast. She held her hand out to help the stranger up, and the first thing was noticed was a large cloth wrapped around the girl's head, revealing only her face.

"Oh no, it was all my fault, please excuse me, I was just distracted." The girl looked up, and Amy got a better look at her face. Her skin was peach-colored, and her brown eyes looked incredibly tired. Not only that, her face looked weak too. Amy pulled her up, and heard the girl's stomach grumble. Amy dug into her pocket and found a granola bar.

"Here, you should take this, you seem hungry." But the girl shook her head.

"No, I can't take this…"

"Sure you can!" Amy insisted, but the girl wasn't done yet.

"No, I can't, because I'm fasting today."

"Fasting?"

The girl nodded, and said "My name is Iman, and as you've probably already figured out, I'm Muslim. And this month, in the lunar calendar, is the ninth month. During this month we celebrate Ramadan, which means that we fast everyday."

"But what's fasting?"

"Fasting means that we don't eat or drink everyday in the month, from when the sun first rises until it sets."

"But why?"

"Well, you know how there are a lot of poor people out there who go days without food or drinks, right?" Amy nodded, so Iman continued.

"Well, we fast so that way we can know what they feel like, ya know?" Iman explained, and Amy understood.

"Wow, that is so amazing! Hey Iman, this is going on for the whole month, right?" Amy asked, and the new girl nodded.

"Cool, you know what; I'm going to fast with you tomorrow!" Amy exclaimed, but the girl didn't look so excited.

"Are you sure…ah…"

"Amy, my name's Amy Rose."

"Nice to meet you Amy. Listen, I'm so glad that you want to fast, but it's really hard, especially when it's you're first time. Maybe you should only fast half of the day tomorrow, so that it'll be easier."

"No, I'm going to fast the entire day!" Amy had already made up her mind, and nothing that Iman said could change her mind, so the peach colored girl gave in.

"Alright Amy, you can fast the whole day. Come over to my house tomorrow at 4:30 in the morning…"

"FOUR THIRTY!! Why so early?!"

"Well, the sun rises at around 5:15, so we have to eat before sun rise so that we have enough energy to make it through the day."

"Alright, I'll be there." Amy sighed. She didn't like the prospect of waking up so early, but the concept of fasting intrigued the hedgehog enough that she was willing to try it.

And sure enough, Amy had dragged herself out of bed and to Iman's house in the early morning darkness.

"Oh, hi Amy, come in!" Iman greeted the girl, and although she sounded excited she had heavy bags under her eyes. She led Amy through her apartment and into the dining room, where a woman was already seated.

"Mama, this is the girl I was telling you about, Amy this is my mom."

"Hello Amy, Iman told me you'd like to fast with us day. It's an honor to have you with us."

"The pleas-yawn-ure's all mine -yawn-."

"I can see you tired," The woman smiled. "Hopefully you're not too sleepy to eat."

The three females sat down at the table, which currently carried 2 bowls of cereal, a cup of tea, and a bagel. Amy and Iman each took cereal, while Iman's mom took a bagel.

"Amy, you're not eating." Iman pointed out.

"I'm too tired to eat." The hedgehog girl complained, wondering just how the others were able to eat this early.

"You have to eat; this is the only chance you'll have for the next 11 hours."

So Amy picked up her spoon and finished her meal, which Iman had told her, was called suhur, and was invited to go back to sleep for a few more hours in Iman's room.

7 hours later Amy was wide awake and was already incredibly thirsty and starting to get hungry.

'_Still 6 hours to go Amy, don't be hungry now…' _But everywhere she went she saw food; even when she opened the TV it seemed all that was on was cooking shows and food commercials. She sighed and decided to go visit Tails; that would take her mind off of her stomach.

"Hey Amy, what's up?" Tails asked as he opened the door to his workshop to let the girl in. But he immediately recognized her weak appearance.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing; I'm just a little hungry. I haven't eaten all day."

"Why not?" This question came from Sonic, who was just walking into the room.

"Oh, hi Sonic. I haven't eaten because…well, I met this Muslim girl named Iman, and she told me about how she was fasting for Ramadan, so I decided to try it today."

"What's Ramadan?" The blue blur asked, and it was Tails who answered.

"Ramadan is the month where Muslims fast; it's one of the 5 pillars of their religion."

"So they don't eat for the entire month?!" The hedgehog exclaimed, and he was a bit too loud for Amy's liking. She was starting to get a headache from her hunger.

"Oh course not, that's impossible!" She snapped. "They only fast while the sun is up everyday for the month."

"Calm down Ames, you don't have to get that defensive about it."

After 5 more minutes, Amy decided that she would go back home and try to sleep for the rest of the day.

The trip home had been tiring, and the young girl was so incredibly thirsty that the first thing she did when she walked into her door was go into the kitchen and drink a large sip of cold, refreshing water. But once the water had gone down her throat, she remembered why she had been so thirsty, and she immediately panicked.

'_Oh no, what have I done? All those hours have gone to waste…' _Amy was mad at herself, but because she was too tired to get too angry, her rational side appeared.

"_Before you go jumping to any conclusions, let's ask Iman about this."_

"Hello?" Once Amy heard the voice of the girl, she went into freak-out mode.

"Iman, I did the worst thing ever! I was so thirsty, I…I… I accidentally drank some water."

"Amy, stay calm. It was only an accident, right?" Iman's voice was firm, but not mean.

"Yes."

"Than its okay, you haven't ruined your fast. Now if it was on purpose…"

"It wasn't, I promise!"

"Okay, than you're clear. And don't forget, my mom and I are expecting you for breakfast!!"

"Breakfast?"

"That's when we break our fast… break-fast get it?"

"Okay, I'll be there!"

The rest of the day was uneventful, and at 7:00 Amy was standing at Iman's door.

"You're just in time, there's only 6 minutes left! You made it, Amy!"

"Iman, how can you do this every single day for an entire month?"

"Hn, well, I'm used to this, I've been doing it since I was a kid. And, it helps when you think that after 11 or 12 hours you can eat again, but there are people out there who won't be able to break their fast… they don't have enough food to eat for days. So, when you think about it, we're the lucky ones, right?"

Amy didn't have to think too hard about her answer, the angry rumble of her empty stomach made her wonder how poor people could survive without food for so long. A strong feeling of pity rushed through her body; she wished she could do something to help them…

"Amy, let's go, it's time to eat!" Iman exclaimed.

…but that could wait until AFTER she ate.

And there was definitely enough food to go around. First was handed a date, a small dried fruit that was incredibly sweet. Iman told her that this was the traditional way to break one's fast, but Amy was happy to get any food in her stomach. Relief flooded through her once she took the first bite, and when she finished her stomach wanted more.

And after she finished eating, Amy had never felt more satisfied.

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I know, it's not one of my better pieces, but I wanted to get this up today and I only got a chance to write it right now, in only 20 minutes. It plot was incredibly rushed, I know, but I hope you can over look that and liked this story. If anybody has any questions about Ramadan, or any other Islam related questions, ask me in a review and I will answer you! And please, don't flame!

Reviews are really appreciated!!

crimson-obsidian-rose


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